In English, grammatical gender is an attribute of some nouns. Most of English nouns of either people or animals don't specify particular gender, or say, they are neuter, while as a few nouns are only used to masculine or feminine object respectively. So it isn't very difficult to deal with gender of noun comparing with other main Europe Languages.
We may divide nouns of people and animals as two categories:
- For neuter nouns, we can add modifiers to express gender. Although there are some rules and fixed combination, noun or adjective plus neuter word is relatively easy to learn and use.
- For a few of nouns for specific gender, we have to get them one by one. Fortunately the group isn't large.
1. Add Gender to Neuter Nouns
Because most of people and animal nouns are neuter, we have to add noun or adjective of gender to express male or female if necessary. Such as:
- man
- woman
- boy
- girl
- male
- female
- he
- she
- maid
- lady
In general these words can be used as common noun/adjective to specify an object a particular gender: masculine or feminine. In a few cases, they act as prefix or suffix in derived word or fixed combination.
Examples of adding gender to neuter nouns.
- man doctor
- woman worker
- sportsman
- policewoman
- boyfriend
- girlfriend
- male nurse
- female singer
- maid servant
- landlady
- male monkey
- female elephant
- he-goat
- she-wolf
2. Gender Names for People
god | goddess |
emperor | empress |
king | queen |
prince | princess |
actor | actress |
waiter | waitress |
master | mistress |
host | hostess |
headmaster | headmistress |
heir | heiress |
shepherd | shepherdess |
duke | duchess |
marquis | marchioness |
viscount | viscountess |
landlord | landlady |
fiance | fiancee |
wizard | witch |
priest | priestess |
poet | poetess |
manager | manageress |
widower | widow |
lad | lass |
hero | heroine |
gentleman | lady |
nephew | niece |
bridegroom | bride |
monk | nun |
sir | madam |
steward | stewardess |
usher | usherette |
masseur | masseuse |
3. Gender Names for Animal
lion | lioness |
tiger | tigress |
bull | cow |
stallion | mare |
ram | ewe |
cock | hen |
drake | duck |
leopard | leopardess |
fox | vixen |
gander | goose |
boar | sow |
stag | doe |